


01:27 AM

by jongsoon



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe - Office, Angst, Angst and Romance, F/M, Office Worker Kim Dongyoung | Doyoung, Office Worker Lee Taeyong, Office Worker Moon Taeil, Physical Abuse, Possessive Behavior, Rough Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-20
Updated: 2019-07-20
Packaged: 2020-07-09 09:04:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19885096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jongsoon/pseuds/jongsoon
Summary: When a surprise visit by Doyoung, the abusive ex, tore her between accepting his apologies or reuniting with her old crush.





	01:27 AM

The incoming message notification on her phone had been restless during the two-hour trip to the beach resort. Taeyong could not stop worrying about her as he felt guilty to send her early to the beach resort where the company they worked at would hold an event later that weekend. As his loyal assistant, and his loyal best friend, she could not say no either as she knew that he had a lot more works to be done back in the office for another business trip abroad on the upcoming week.

She lay herself on the bed for a short while, cherishing the littlest joy she could enjoy at that place although it was a business trip. Her hand roamed on the empty space next to her, blindly looking for her phone after another message just came. She hissed, expecting another insecure message from Taeyong although she had called him right after she landed her feet on the resort's ground.

But it's not him.

_It's good to see you around again._

The sender's name caused her to jolt up and nearly give her a heart attack. Her hands were trembling as she dialed Taeyong's number in panic, wishing him still in standby.

" _Yes?_ " he picked up immediately.

"Why didn't you inform me that Doyoung will be here early as well?" she spluttered. "And I'm alone here, remember?" The thoughts of her abusive ex being in a close proximity sent chills down her spine.

Doyoung used to be their co-worker at the headquarter until Taeyong requested himself to be replaced to the current branch office they worked at, bringing her along as his assistant, in order to distance her from Doyoung after their breakup. They were lucky enough that the company didn't give any special treatment on Doyoung, they even made him went through the apprenticeship at the beginning, despite the fact that he's the inheritor of the company. That situation made the couple decided to date secretly from public in order to avoid any professional prejudice in the future.

" _Shit. I forgot to check about that. But... he shouldn't be there though? Are you sure he's there?_ "

"You know him," she sighed. "He said it's good to see me around again just right after I entered my room. Too much to be a coincidence. He must have heard the news of me coming here alone."

Taeyong fell silent for a moment, thinking. " _Oh, wait! I think Taeil arrived there today. Let me check on him first._ "

"Taeil?" she could only recall one man they both knew named Taeil and he might not be what she would prefer either. "That Japan branch's Moon Taeil?" their first and last meeting might be three years back just before he departed for Japan. Another unexpected man she ever wished to meet there.

" _Yeah, the one and only. He came to observe, a vacation in disguise,_ " Taeyong confirmed, hissing at the explanation part. " _What's your room number_?"

"1207."

" _Noted. I'll get back to you soon._ "

She plopped herself back onto the bed after he hung up. Trying her best to control her breath, she massaged her temple during the wait. Out of all people, it happened to be Moon Taeil. She barely knew him personally since she only met him through few meetings back then. Even so, she didn't even interact much with him as she was just an assistant to Taeyong. But one thing she was sure of, she could not forget him.

Nonetheless, in such emergency, she wouldn't mind anyone as long as she's not completely alone when Doyoung, her worst nightmare, was around.

Her phone rang a few minutes later with an unknown number flashing on the screen. Her heart began to thump irregularly for the second time, worried that it might be Doyoung.

She picked it up and purposely waited for the caller to greet her first.

" _Hello?_ "

She sighed in relief knowing it's Taeil. Yes, she remembered that deep voice vividly despite their quick encounters.

"Oh! Hi. I heard you already at the resort too?" she bit her lip, nervously waiting for his answer. She would have wished it was a no, but in such situation she could not help to expect a straight firm yes.

" _Yeah, you're in room 1207, right?_ "

His answer, along with the ringing doorbell, made her excited knowing the fact that she did not have to deal with Doyoung by herself although Taeil himself might not have any idea about the real deal.

"Yes. Wait, I'm coming," she put her phone down on the couch and half jogged towards the door.

To her surprise, it was Doyoung standing before her instead, his hungry eyes scanning her head to toe, with a smile pasted on his face, which ironically used to be her favorite thing from him. She mentally cursed at herself for not peeking out first before opening the door. But then again, it was too late.

Her reflex made her pushed the door close right away, but the guy was faster and stronger to hold it open, shoving it back inwards. Her panic state sucked all her energy that she couldn't afford to struggle further against him. He managed to slip in and slam the door close behind him.

She stepped backwards into her room as he approached her, before her legs couldn't hold herself any longer and slumped on her knees, arms automatically shielding herself in defense.

"Doyoung, please. We're done. Leave me alone," she squeezed all her remaining voice out, whole body shaking from anxiety. All the worst nightmares she had with him started flashing back in her head.

Doyoung squatted in front of her, one knee resting on the carpeted floor. He lifted her chin up to face him. Another smirk showed up, gaze staring deep into her soul as he slightly tilted his head.

He leaned closer, leaving only an inch apart that she could feel his warm breath brushing against her face.

"Don't you miss me? Because I do, so much," yet he didn't give a chance for her to answer as he landed his lips on hers, but she quickly turned her face, causing his kiss to sweep across her cheek instead of lasting long on her lips.

Her repetitive gestures of rejection slowly made him irritated. He forcefully grabbed her jaw and turned her to face him. His fingers were clawing the flesh on her cheeks, but she was too scared to feel the pain. "Stop being a bitch," he gritted his teeth. "Make your life easy by listening to your boyfriend."

"We already broke up, Doyoung!" she shouted in frustration, earning a loud slap in return. Tears escaped her eyes, not from the stinging pain he added onto her cheek, but it simply hurt to see how drastic he had changed compared to their early lovey dovey days.

"We. Never. Broke. Up," he emphasized every word. "I didn't agree with it. I didn't acknowledge it. We would never. You're mine, keep that in mind," he purposely stated it next to her ear. She was sure enough he was smirking as he said it. "You better stop running away from me. Aren't you tired?"

He stood up and grabbed her by the arm before pushing her onto the bed. "Let me give you a gift," he grinned. Pinning her down with one leg, he crawled over her. She gathered the remains of her energy to push him aside, but it was all useless as he had harshly gripped her wrists altogether and pinned them above her head. In the meantime, his other hand was rushing to unbutton her shirt. His prolonged lust after months urged him to devour her as he dove straight down onto her lips, nibbling it roughly without even giving her a chance to breathe in between. Her face gradually turned red as she continued struggling to breathe some air until Doyoung trailed down his lips down her neck, messily biting and sucking on her soft skin.

"Doyoung, enough. Don't do this. I beg you," her voice cracked as she choked from her tears. "Please."

He had no time to bother her desperate plea. Somehow it already became a music to him after she kept repeating it in a daily basis throughout the last few months of them living together before. He was getting used to have her pleading to him and he liked it to his surprise.

His fingers grazed down her clothed thigh, stopping at the hem of her skirt to pull it up, exposing another inches of her skin for his hand to explore. The pace of his lips was slowing down as he's taking his time at his favorite part, her cleavage.

"Doyoung, no. Please stop," she whimpered between her sobs.

He paused to look at her face with his stern expression. "Can't you shut up?!" he snarled. "I'm giving you-"

Ringing door bell and knocks on the door interrupted his sentence. He glanced back towards the door, muttering curses, before ignoring it and proceeding to what he was previously doing.

But the knocks were persistent and impatient, not something a hotel staff would do.

She shut her eyes, silently wishing it was Taeil outside, or whoever that could just stop Doyoung from eating her alive.

"Hey," he slapped her cheek to make her open her eyes. "It's your guardian angel, Taeyongie, isn't it?" he guessed with obvious disgust on his face. "Why is he here?"

She moved her gaze away, avoiding to answer him.

"Guess I'm fucking a mannequine," he sneered at her silence. "Don't you dare to do anything," threatened him with a light choke on her neck, causing her to jerk, before he got up and made his way towards the door.

He was somehow disappointed seeing that it's not Taeyong as he was all ready to fight him. Instead, Taeil was standing there, unexpectedly to him, with a face as if he knew what he was up to. However, Doyoung tried his best not to look flustered by his sudden presence.

"Oh, what's up?" he casually leaned on the door, opened just wide enough to show himself.

Taeil shook his head in disbelief. "Promotion changed you, huh? Is this how you behave towards your senior who helped you all the way?" he hissed, arms crossed in front of his chest.

"I have no time for bullshit." Doyoung was about to close the door, but Taeil held it using his foot.

"Get out of the room," ordered Taeil who suddenly turned serious and threatening. His gaze managed to make Doyoung shuddered a bit.

Doyoung rolled his eyes, still trying to act casual. "What the heck is wrong with you? This is my room."

"Oh? Is that so?" he pretended to furrow his eyebrows. "Isn't it belong to your ex you're currently assaulting inside?"

Doyoung wasn't in the mood of role playing anymore. His expression turned dark as he glared at Taeil, deep inside started to worried that Taeil might know things. "It's none of your business," he growled.

It was then Taeil who lost his patience. He grabbed him by the collar of his polo shirt and swung a jab across his face. The younger was caught off guard that he lost balance and landed on the cold concrete floor of the open-air hallway, panting from the surprise attack.

"I'm sorry it's not the angel Lee Taeyong who came to get you. It's the evil Moon's shift, tonight," he smirked. "Ah! I forgot I'm actually delivering a surprise gift for you, Boss."

Taeil shoved his phone out of his pocket. He played the recorded call between him and her that hadn't been hung up when she opened the door for Doyoung earlier, exposing all the things happened inside the room between Doyoung and her. Doyoung tried to compose himself, but still unavoidably dumbfounded.

"Leave her alone or else I will bring this up and crush you properly," Taeil shrugged. "Well, it will definitely shook your family up, I guess? Imagine a headline across the country, Kim Doyoung, the successor of one of the biggest tech companies in the country, assaulted his ex? What do you think? Does that sound good enough? Let me know if you get a better idea," he chuckled mockingly, satisfied with his taunts.

Doyoung stood up and challengingly faced Taeil. "You're really getting on my nerves." His balled fist nearly hit Taeil, but he had known it coming, swiftly blocking it with his palm. "Fine. I let you win this time round," he spitted. "But just so you know, she's mine."

Taeil let out a sarcastic chuckle, "Oh, wakey wakey, Doyoung. Are you deaf or pretending to be? She even shouted it out on your face, I guess. Just bear the fact that you've become a beast that scares her off. And even your confidence right now scares me too, kid, really. A pity you didn't have this level of confidence yet back during your apprentice days."

Doyoung's chest was heaving up and down in anger. He glared at Taeil for one last time and left in defeat. He might be possessive on her, but strangely his sanity stayed there when it came to his family, which she sometimes wished he could have the equal level of sanity on her.

Taeil watched Doyoung walked down the hallway until he completely disappeared before entering the room to check on her. He gently closed the door shut and slowly walked further in.

She was there, curling herself on the middle of the bed. Her figure was shaking softly as she was silently crying. Her face was barely seen, hidden underneath her messy long hair and her arm.

Taeil gulped at the sight, having a hard time witnessing the real damage Doyoung managed to create. Doyoung, the perfect man a women could dream of, at least what he heard from nearly all women co-workers in the company, was not as flawless as he seemed to be.

Taeil kneeled by the bed, unsure what to do.

"Hey," he greeted her softly. "It's me, Taeil." Noticing her bare legs as he spoke to her, he carefully pulled up the blanket to cover her.

She replied a moment later with a weak nod.

"I'm... sorry," he whispered. "He's gone now."

The soft cry suddenly escalated to heavy sobs. Taeil reached her hand, stroking the back of her hand to soothe her. To his surprise, she squeezed his hand back with all the remaining strength she had. He could feel her fear diffused out of her skin into his.

"Thank you," she finally spoke out her first words through a weak whisper.

"Don't mention it," replied him. "Wait." He gently pulled his hand and stood up to get water for her. He once in a while checked on her reflection in the vanity mirror as he poured the water into the glass.

He then sat on the bed with the glass in his hand, staring at her covered face. "Here, have some water, maybe it can help to calm you down a bit."

She sighed. "Give me a moment." She could still feel her heart racing. The overflow of blood pumped to her head made it pounding badly.

Taeil waited without moving, not even taking his eyes off of her.

She slowly shoved her hair aside, uncovering her face before opening her eyes and made her first eye contact with Taeil after three years. The fact that he had been staring at her all along dazed her. She slowly shook her head, trying to shrug off the memory of Doyoung's hungry stare at her. She did her best convincing herself that it's really Taeil sitting in front of her, not another hallucination she had.

Taeil was stunned for a moment. Although he sometimes saw her on Taeyong's posts, he stared at her face as if he had never seen her before. Another wave of disbelief struck him again, cursing at Doyoung in his mind for having the guts to torture her.

"Hi," he repeated his greeting. Smiling warmly, he offered his hand to help her sitting up.

It all happened in a flash. The movement then revealed all the visible evidences after previously witnessing it by ears--puffy face, bleeding cut on her swollen lips, reddish mark on her cheek, messy hickeys and bruises along her neck down to her upper chest, her bare torso underneath her unbuttonned shirt. Taeil tried to hide his surprise at all of the excessive information.

He calmly put the glass of water he had been holding with his other hand on the night stand before taking off his sweater without a word.

"I hope you don't mind," he gestured at his sweater. "Please let me." He helped to put the sweater on her. "I just washed it, don't worry," he joked, trying to light up the mood.

The tip of her lips curved up as the warmth of his sweater wrapped her. His scent started becoming an aromatherapy to soothe her, at least covering Doyoung's in the meantime.

"Oh, here," he took the glass back and handed it to her. "Drink a lot."

She slowly took a small gulp of water, staring at the wall with her empty gaze. "T...Taeil."

"Yes?" The first time she called his name and he could feel something different with it, which he could not give any proper reasoning.

"Do you mind to stay here tonight?" she hesitantly asked, gaze still pinned at the wall.

It was something that he actually had been considering, just in case Doyoung had the audacity to secretly go back to her room by any means. Yet, he felt inappropriate to offer such thing after what happened to her with their status as acquaintances.

Taeil glanced around the room. "Sure, no problem. I can sleep on the couch."

"Thank you," she replied, almost down to a whisper. "So much."

"Do you need help with anything else?"

She shook her head. "I just need to wash his scent off of me."

"I'm sorry."

She sighed, "How I wish he had the word 'sorry' in his dictionary instead."

She got up and started taking her clothes out of the luggage in a slow pace. Taeil was observing her in silence before his phone rang.

"It's Taeyong. Do you mind if I explain to him?" he asked for her permission.

"Go ahead," she agreed before disappearing into the bathroom.

Taeil moved to the couch as he picked up the phone. He reported all the things happened that night to its littlest details, keeping his voice low for her not to imagine everything all over again.

"I'm staying in her room tonight, just in case," informed Taeil. "She asked me to do so."

Taeyong sighed across the line, completely eaten up by guilt. " _Please tell her that she doesn't have to worry about her tasks. Just casually observe and report to me if anything goes wrong. No burden. I'm sending Mark to cover for her tomorrow._ "

"I will," Taeil nodded in reflex.

" _I feel so bad_ ," Taeyong's voice started becoming shaky. " _I... I tried my best all these past months and this happened due to my carelessness._ "

Taeil inhaled deeply. "Hey, your regrets won't change anything. Stop blaming yourself. At least we got his card with us."

" _Thanks a lot, Tael._ "

"I was just lucky earlier," he corrected. "Really, I don't care if he managed to get me fired or anything at this point."

" _It's... sometimes unbelieveable_ ," Taeyong admitted. " _Please take care of her in the meantime. I owe you big time for this. She must be so shook up and I can't even be next to her._ "

"The least I could help. Don't worry, Taeyong. I'll do my best as well," assured him. "Still working at this hour?" he questioned the vague typing sound across the line.

" _Yeah, tons to be done. Can't even concentrate on anything already. Anyway, thanks again_."

She came out of the bathroom just exactly after Taeyong ended the call.

"Do you feel better now?" he inquired.

"At least I've been cleaned," she smiled in reply. "Oh, thanks by the way." She approached him to hand the sweater back. "Are you sure you're okay there?" asked her as he began to lie on the couch.

"I'm good. Just pass me one pillow," he grinned.

She did so, but her concerned expression was still there. "Should we call for an extra bed?"

"Nah, I prefer couch," he insisted. "You should rest now. Stop worrying about me."

"She sighed in defeat, "If you said so. Good night, Taeil.“

* * *

Taeil woke up to a blue penguin-patterned fleece blanket covering his body. He squinted his eyes at the sun beam as he glanced towards the bed, she was still sleeping. His hand roamed around looking for his phone. 8:10 AM.

The first thing he did was ordering breakfast to be delivered before going to the bathroom to wash his face.

"Morning," she greeted him once he reappeared, half yawning. Hands rubbing her eyes while she was still lying on the bed.

"Is that blanket yours?" questioned Taeil right away.

"Uh?" she had to follow the direction of his finger to get what he was talking about. "Ah, yeah. I just remembered I brought it when you're already asleep."

Taeil smiled in response. "Thanks. It's cute," he laughed. "By the way, I ordered breakfast here since I think we better stay inside today. I'm just gonna get my clothes first and come back here. Please check the loophole first before you open the door if anyone comes."

"As much as I want to, I can't. I still have to do my works," she shrugged.

An invisible bulb shone above Taeil's head as the realization hit him. "Oh, I forgot that last night Taeyong said you don't have to worry. He's sending Mark here to back you up," Taeil explained, then sitting at the end of the bed. "Maybe he's on his way already."

She lightly chuckled, "Does it mean I'm having a vacation in disguise just like you?"

Taeil's eyes widened in surprise. "It's Taeyong, isn't it?" his flustered expression brought a smile to her face. "That guy, really," he shook his head as he clicked his tongue in disappointment.

"I can't wait to get a promotion and have more vacation in disguise," she playfully grinned.

"You want me to endorse you?" he played along with her joke. His gaze was on her brighter expression that morning. He couldn't help to smile knowing that he managed to distract her from the incident on the night before. "Okay, enough with the jokes. I will go back to my room first." He got up and grabbed his phone and wallet on the vanity.

Anxiety started to hit her at the thoughts of being left alone by Taeil, although she knew he was just going for a short while. "Uh.. Taeil." He stared at her as she paused, waiting for her to proceed. "Do you mind to just move to this room?" she shot the question straight away as her heart beating faster from one hell ride of overthinking.

Anxiousness and hesitance were obvious on her face, yet it sparked hope towards him at the same time that Taeil couldn't resist her wishful expression at him. "I... we can take turn. Tonight I can sleep on the couch," she persuaded further in order to give him something in return.

His nod relieved all of her tense. "Don't worry about me. Even the carpeted floor looks comfy enough for me to sleep on," he assured her, laughing.

Her expression brightened at his answer, eyes gleaming. "Thanks a lot, Taeil."

"No need to thank me. Be thankful to your smile."

* * *

It was a quiet night that day. The sound of waves chasing towards the beach became a lullaby to her and a background music for Taeil who had been working on the couch after dinner. His vacation in disguise slowly but surely being ruined by Yuta, his co-worker to whom he asked help from to cover for his part. He turned out giving him more headaches instead of actually helping him as their boss started complaining on the quality of Yuta's work.

It was almost midnight when Taeil heard vague whimpers. He put aside his laptop and climbed onto the empty side of the bed to check on her.

She started to shift in her sleep, eyebrows furrowed. "No, Doyoung. Don't," she muttered in her sleep. Her hand was clutching the blanket tightly. "Please stop," she trailed off, eyes all shut.

Taeil lightly tapped her shoulder, trying to wake her up. "Hey," he softly whispered.

Instead of responding to his gesture, her muttering got more intense, still pleading on Doyoung.

"Hey, wake up." He tried to nudge her as another attempt.

Her eyes fluttered open eventually. She stared at him before glancing around, letting out a heavy sigh knowing it's just another nightmare.

"Gosh, another nightmare." She closed her eyes and pinched her nose bridge.

"I know, you talked in your sleep earlier."

"I might get traumatized by sleeping if this keep continuing."

Taeil was lying on his side, using his folded arm as his pillow, as he watched her in pity. The after effects of Doyoung actions on her began appearing clearer each day. Yet, he was still not used to believing that Doyoung was such a jerk.

Taeil stretched out his other arm towards her. He placed his hand on top of her head and started stroking it gently.

She opened her eyes and looked at him blankly, questioning his gesture through her eyes in silence, numb as she couldn't even response to the surprising moment.

"My mom always did this to ease me down back to sleep after waking up from a nightmare when I was a kid," explained him.

She let out another sigh and shut her eyes again. "I'm tired of being haunted all the time," she said lowly.

"This will pass soon," assured him as he continued. "I promise you."

She didn't respond further due to the magic that was slowly working on her. The constant pace of his gentle strokes brought calmness to her that she could feel her body began to relax before she drifted back to sleep. But the one whose eyes getting heavier wasn't just her, but also him, next to her.

* * *

She opened her eyes in the morning to Taeil sleeping soundly next to her. He didn't seem to shift any tiny bit since the last moment she saw him--sleeping on his side, one arm folded under his head becoming a pillow while the other was stretched towards her, which then his hand already fell next to her face after since he stopped stroking her head.

She stared at his tired looks, feeling guilty for disturbing his intended vacation. He should have been having a leisure time, but she forced him to stay with her and do almost nothing fun at such a place. And they barely knew each other. It then led her to a conclusion that he really treasured Taeyong until he was even willing to sacrifice that much in order to help her under his request.

She got up carefully not to wake him up and called for breakfast, the littlest thing she could do to not bother him as much as she did on the previous day. Finishing her morning ritual quietly, she glanced around the room. Her eyes laid on the messy coffee table by the couch--half empty cup of hot chocolate, opened laptop, scattered papers and files. She made her way there and started tidying them up, which made her ended up missing Taeyong instead. She hadn't talked with him after that night, or more like she barely touched her phone after since.

Sighing, she stood up and took her phone from the end table before carefully sitting down on the bed.

As per usual, Taeyong had left her tons of messages, mostly long texts of him apologizing. She kept scrolling until she spotted one buried message among other unread notifications.

_I'm sorry._

She felt her breathing stopped. Kim Doyoung, for the first time she ever remembered after he became abusive, texted sorry to her. She checked the timestamp, 01:27 AM.

She couldn't do anything other than staring at her phone's screen, trying her best to believe what she's seeing. She then had no idea how to feel about him after he somehow fulfilled her wish, for him to be sorry to her. Yet, her experiences of being betrayed by his fake past makeups hindered her from swallowing it easily.

Distracting herself, she decided to reply Taeyong's messages instead. The guy surprisingly replied right after she sent her messages.

"Getting ready for work? Why so early?"

" _No need. I already forgot the last time I left the office haha_."

She couldn't help smiling to herself as she imagined the way he would say it to her in real life with dark circles around his eyes. "No matter how proud I am of you, don't forget to take care of yourself, please. I still need you in a long run."

" _Soon, don't worry. I'm gonna take leave and hibernate._ "

"Interesting, count me in."

" _By the way, if you happen to meet Mark and his curiosity, just tell him I assigned you to work with Tael on behalf of me while he's there._ "

"How if he asks further on the details?"

" _Leave it to Tael to bluff. Mark will definitely fall for everything he says_."

She unconsciously giggled throughout the last few minutes with Taeyong. Speaking of the devil, a voice startled her from behind.

"What are you giggling at?" It was Taeil, with his sleepy voice.

She turned to find Taeil squinting his eyes as he tried to wake up completely. "Oh! I must have waken you up! Sorry!" she exclaimed. "It's Taeyong."

He snorted, "Are you guys gossiping about me again?"

"I'm not talking behind your back since I'm technically in front of you, am I?"

"Oh my God," his laugh got smothered as he buried his face onto the pillow. "Now I understand why you two are best friends."

She laughed along until he abruptly stopped and looked around in horror.

"Wait. I've been sleeping here since last night?" he asked, nudging his arm onto the bed.

She nodded.

He jolted up to sitting position. "I'm sorry. Oh, Gosh. That shouldn't happen. I'm sorry."

"Hey, chill," she calmly smiled in response. "I didn't have nightmares after since. So, it's fine."

Taeil rolled his eyes. "I got it, even nightmares are scared of me. I got it."

The door bell interrupted their laughter in that bright morning.

"Breakfast time!" she chimed. She just stood up to get it, but Taeil leapt forward to stop her.

"Let me," told him as he got off the bed. "Just in case."

* * *

Taeil asked her to go with him to the resort's café in the late afternoon to meet Jaehyun, their colleague he hadn't met for a long time. Expecting to be useless throughout their reunion, surprisingly Jaehyun remembered her from their meeting in the past months. Thanks to Taeyong she was all of a sudden feeling famous to be remembered by their colleagues she didn't even get in touch with. She joined in the conversation once in a while, playing the card as Taeil's temporary assistant to cover up.

"I'm going to the restroom," she half whispered to Taeil, whom replied with a nod.

The huge resort had no mercy on her. She had to go all the way down the open-air hallway just to go for the restroom to do a 3-minute business.

As an effort to make it worth, she took her time washing her hand and reapplying her lipstick before going back to the café. She had walked halfway when she noticed the sun started to set. That was when she realized the view of the beach was just next to the peaceful hallway she had rushingly gone through previously, ignoring the gem of that hidden corner. She took out her phone to take some shots of the rare scenery she got.

She froze as she could feel someone standing right behind her, arms gradually circling around her waist. It wasn't tight, but just enough to secure her. She could easily tell from the scent that it was none other than Doyoung. He stuck his cheek on the side of her head before slowly resting his chin on her shoulder.

It was a tough battle within her. Her first reaction was nearly shocked to death, yet she could feel his touch was different than the last time he invaded her space. The message he sent just earlier that day popped up in her mind and mixed her feelings to the worst point. She missed him.

The guy remained silent.

Her thumb was trembling when she tried to change the camera to the front one. It really was Doyoung, eyes closed on her shoulder, looking as peaceful as ever. She couldn't help to stare at him on the screen, convincing herself that she's not deceived by the current sight. She had no idea what made her pressed the shutter button, silently capturing the weirdest moment she had in the last three months, at least.

She put her phone back into her purse and gathered her courage to face him. The fact that they were at a public space did give her a bit more assurance that he wouldn't dare to go as far as he did. He inhaled deeply as she shifted in his hug to turn around, as if he was trying to keep her scent in his mind. He loosened his arms to give her space without breaking the hug.

The two spent a moment staring at each other, which they found it weird as they both realized it might be the first time they didn't see sparks of anger in each other's eyes. He just looked like the Doyoung whom she spent hundreds of lovely dates with. Such a view triggered her eyes to turn glassy. It only needed seconds before it shattered completely.

Her fingers hesitantly brushed his cheek as she continued staring at him in disbelief. The guy rested his forehead on hers. His eyes fluttered shut, feeling her touch.

"I do miss you, Doyoung," she whispered, answering the question she hadn't got to answer honestly. "The old you. I miss the old you, the old us," added her, nearly choke from her tears.

Doyoung exhaled heavily. "I... miss him too."

The flow of her teardrops intensified as both of them fell quiet.

He took it seriously when they said action speaks louder than words. He gently kissed her lips, his hand had moved to cup her cheek to make her stay still. To her, it felt exactly as their first kiss--his soft and warm lips fit perfectly on hers. It glided delicately along her lips. His hunger was not there anymore to hurt her. All the terrifying experiences she had seemed like another series of the worst nightmares, unreal.

She slowly made her smallest move to kiss him back, both palms rested on his chest, feeling his thumping heartbeats, before they trailed up on their own and secured around his nape. The two were completely in a time machine, having a deep tender kiss as if nothing terrible had ever happened between them.

But the cloud nine couldn't hold themselves for too long.

He was puzzled when she suddenly pulled away, softly pushing him away to make a gap. His betrayed looks nearly shook her up, but she had to do it.

"I shouldn't." Her head hung low. "I shouldn't," she chanted.

His mouth slightly opened up as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he was left speechless.

"I... I can't do this."

"I'd do anything to fix it. I know it's almost impossible, but I will try my best. Please. I really mean it."

It was nearly miraculous to hear him pleading. Unexpectedly such words coming out from him might be his strongest weapon to break through her defense.

She closed her eyes as she inhaled deeply, forcing herself to stand strong with her stance. "Unfortunately that's what you always said to me but you never kept it," she trailed off, spitting out the bitter truth.

Doyoung pressed his lips, cornered.

"I have to break the chain, Doyoung. I can't trust myself to trust you again. I don't even dare to try." Her hands were then clutching her purse to hold herself. "I... I will just sacrifice myself to be the last victim. Just promise me you won't hurt anyone the way you hurt me."

He snorted, "No. I only want to promise you that I will fix you. I have to."

She shook her head firmly. "That's the only way for you to fix me, and for both of us to learn," she replied, voice weakened. "It's not easy for me either, Doyoung. Good luck to us, I guess."

She tried to bid him one last weak smile before she walked away, leaving him with useless regrets.

* * *

It was not that difficult for her to notice something was off with Taeil. The gentle guy who tends to be all-smiley out of nowhere giving her cold shoulders. He did things inside their room without exchanging any words nor smile at her, acting as if he's alone in the room. She secretly re-read the text she had sent him earlier when she went straight back to their room without coming back to the café. She couldn't find any impoliteness, even implicitly, in her text. Yet, she didn't dare to cross the boundaries and find out herself.

He was back on the couch, busy with his laptop. At least that's what she could see from the bed, despite whatever thing he's doing on it.

"Works again?" she gave her first attempt to break the ice as the silent treatment began to kill her.

Eyes fixed on the screen, he just nodded in response.

She gulped. She stared at him, expecting to get some words after, but none.

"Have you had dinner?" she shot her second attempt, with a wide smile pasted on her face which he didn't even bother to look at.

He shook his head. His wordless response started spreading the tense onto her.

"I can order-"

"No need," were his first words to cut her off. "I'm not hungry."

She quietly sighed. "I don't mean to be nosy, but feel free to talk to me if you have something bothering your mind." She bet her life to tell him, something she thought might be able to pay his sacrifices back.

"I'm fine." Yet his expression said otherwise.

"Okay," she trailed off, eventually admitting her failure. "Feel free to sleep on the bed, by the way."

He shook his head again, still not bothering himself to make any eye contact with her. "I'm good here."

"If you insist," she shrugged despite the fact that he's not even looking at her. "Good night."

Silence.

* * *

He was already gone once she woke up in the next morning. No messages were left, but his stuffs were still there, scattered on the couch as usual. Having breakfast without him became an unusual thing to her. She later asked whether he would like to have lunch together, but no replies still. She decided to build up the thoughts of him being called for work as a way to stop her from overthinking.

It was almost evening when he got back to the room, greeting her with a surprised expression after finding her sitting on the bed in her shorts and tee, casually scrolling on her phone.

She looked up to see him standing in the middle of the room, the first eye contact after nearly 24 hours.

"You're not going for the welcoming dinner?" he frowned.

She shrugged. "Mark replaced me, remember? No reason for me to be there either."

"But isn't there a plus one slot for everyone?" he furrowed his eyebrows, suspicious on her answer.

"Executive guests, not for staffs as we're supposed to manage things only."

Taeil stared contemplatively at her for a moment as if he was trying to solve a riddle. "I have my slot."

She shook her head. "I can't simply come and sit doing nothing while Mark is doing my job."

"Well, you're assigned to be my assistant here. Shouldn't you come along with me to make it less suspicious?"

"Oh," she facepalmed herself. "True. You're my boss. What kind of assistant I am, forgetting her own boss."

A satisfied smirk grew across his face, the closest form to a smile after the cold shoulders he'd been giving her. "Good." He glanced at his wristwatch. "Better be quick, we only have 30 mins left."

"Dibs for bathroom. You can dress up here," replied her as she hopped off the bed and took her stuffs from her luggage. She had disappeared into the bathroom before he could even respond. 

"Taeil, are you done?" she shouted from behind the door later to make sure once she finished. 

He chuckled, "Since ten minutes ago." 

His chuckles faded as she showed up, fully dressed in a classic knee-length off-shoulder maroon velvet dress. Her gold crescent moon necklace did its best in giving an accent down her neck. She tied her black hair into a simple bridal bun, giving a sleek and elegant look as it showed off her tiny pair of diamond earrings.

The necklace completely stole his attention as he was even made agape of it. 

"Shall we go now?" she distracted him after slipping into her black stilettos and slung her clutch on her shoulder, waving her hand in front of his face to gain his attention back. 

Caught red-handed staring at her, he shook his head to compose himself. "Oh! Sure."

Mark welcomed them with a wide grin as he saw them approaching from a far. "Just in time!" he chimed. 

"Where's my seat, kid?" Taeil casually joked with the younger while peeking inside the ballroom. Not many people were around the registration table since most people were already inside. 

"Uh," he mumbled, both eyes and fingers busy tracing the list on the document he's holding. "Second table on the right. We placed your name there already. Just sit accordingly and you're all good," he looked back up to them and smiled. 

Taeil took note in his head. "Cool, thanks."

"It must be good, huh?" Mark turned to talk to her. "To ditch the annoying Taeyong and assist him instead," he explained to her questioning stare, referring to Taeil. 

The two laughed at his banter. "Best," she confidently stated, trying to make him more jealous of her.

"Hey, take this as your trial period as Taeyong's assistant since I'm taking her permanently to Japan," Taeil received the signal and joined in teasing him. 

"No way, dude!" the younger expressed his disagreement right away. "No one will be able to handle that beast other than her, like ever." He rolled his eyes and shook his head to shrug his terrible imagination off. "Can't, totally not acceptable. Just don't, okay? I'm so ready to beg." 

"Well," Taeil shrugged, "Let's see." 

"You'll be the first one I confront if that ever happened, man!" Mark half shouted at the two who had started walking away towards the entrance. 

Taeil flashed a playful grin in response as he made way for her to enter first.

The ballroom was turned into a fancy dining hall with round tables of eight for the executives. A low platform was set up to act as a stage. They purposely left an empty space in the middle of the room for a dance floor with a mini fountain at the center. 

She felt like ducking down all the way until their table as she could spot her higher ranked bosses. Being there walking next to Taeil might cause confusion to them since she was supposed to roam around with the other staffs instead. The last thing she could wish was that they didn't remember her much. 

Jaehyun was already sitting nicely on his seat at the same table with other executives she had no idea about. He smiled as he saw them coming and went back on talking to a guy sitting next to him. Taeil himself just politely smiled to greet them as he didn't seem to know them in person either.

She nervously looked around, her observer nature couldn't help it since the event was one whole new experience for her. Planting her plan in her mind, she tried not to be as visible as possible to avoid any problems that might affect Taeyong and her if the executives from her branch office saw her sitting with Taeil instead.

Something made her turned to her left to find Doyoung, two tables away, staring at her in displeasure. She could sense his gaze and followed suit, just how sensitive she had become when it comes to Kim Doyoung. His gaze might not seem to be as devilish as usual, but it was sharp enough to show her that he's not happy at all with what he was seeing, garnished by his clenched jaw. Yet, he was being stuck there with his parents, surrounded by the top executives of the company. A gorgeous young lady sitting few seats away from him was trying to steal his attention, but he remained unbothered.

She had been staring back at him unconsciously with unreadable expression, not wanting to show any signal of fear nor weakness on him. Somehow she slowly noticed that his gaze was growing weaker as it became more like a hopeless one. She hastily looked away before it affected her defense further. Pretending to focus on what's currently happening on the stage, she faked a smile as she clapped to step up her act. Unbeknownst to her, Taeil witnessed everything since the beginning.

At least knowing where Doyoung sat could help her to check and observe on him once in a while. The thoughts of him approaching her in such situation could be the worst scenario as she would have to act her best and would not be able to shoo him away despite Taeil's presence. She would definitely be ending herself if she ever dared to go against Doyoung in public at his "home" event.

The event had passed halfway when she gradually couldn't stand the pressure anymore. The three-course meal started to rebel inside her stomach that she felt like throwing them up due to the uneasiness. She excused herself to go back to the room.

"Are you okay?" Taeil wrapped his hand around her wrist to stop her, a concerned look on his face. "I'll go with you," he decided without waiting for her response.

"Don't," she lightly held him back to his seat. "I'm just overwhelmed. You should stay here. They won't realize me disappearing."

"But-"

"I'll be okay."

* * *

Taeil entered their room about an hour later, secretly leaving after the main sessions that night had been considered finish. The amount of alcohol served making him sick, almost pointless for him to stay since he didn't drink much anyway. It was boring after she left earlier since he wasn't as good as Jaehyun in mingling either. After all, he's worried more about her.

He found the room empty. No signs of presence inside the bathroom either. He noticed the sheer curtain was slightly blown by the wind, that's when he realized the door to their balcony was opened halfway behind it.

There she was, leaning forward as she rested her arms on the fence, still fully dressed, looking towards the dark silhouette of the sea. The dim lighting at the balcony just fell right on her, as if being a dramatic spotlight. He cautiously approached her.

"Mind if I join you here?"

She lightly jolted from the surprise. "Oh, suit yourself," she showed a quick smile at him before turning her face away.

He took the empty space next to her, copying her as he leaned on the fence as well. He glanced around slowly, trying to find anything interesting from the dark view she had been staring at. He then noticed that she was actually staring empty into a distance instead of enjoying the view. They stood in silence for a while.

"It's harder than what you expected, isn't it?" he broke the invisible ice wall between them, then glancing at her.

She snorted as she could not believe that she's actually expecting such words directed towards her. What she didn't expect was that it's Taeil who caught her off-guard. She shrugged.

"You still love him," Taeil concluded, smiling bitterly to himself.

She couldn't respond. He's speaking out the truth. Yet, she felt wrong to just give in straight away after what Taeil had done just to help her. "That doesn't matter anymore," she replied. "I'm not going back."

"Your eyes can't lie," told him. His sarcastic chuckle made it worse. "The way you kissed him yesterday couldn't either."

A sharp gasp could be heard from her as she turned to look at him in disbelief. It was too late to hide the deepest truth of what happened on the previous day.

Taeil smirked at her. "I went after you since I was worried that you took so long. I was so eager to punch him again when I saw the two of you, until I realized that it's you kissing him. So I left for good."

She gulped nervously. "Is that the reason why you're so pissed last night?"

"Who wouldn't?" he asked back as he stood straight up and faced her. "I stayed with you all these days just to make you feel safe and turned out it's you who's throwing yourself to him instead. Who wouldn't?"

It was her first time hearing Taeil raised his tone, specifically meant at her. She looked at him, puzzled by his sudden shifts of mood she experienced since the night before.

"Never mind, it's just my fault. I shouldn't have such high hopes since the beginning," he trailed off.

Their conversation had been a roller coaster ride in the past minutes, causing her to frown at his recent words. "Hold on. I don't have any idea what you're talking about, Taeil."

"Of course you don't. I've always been a coward all this time." His reply didn't help untangle any confusion she's having in her mind.

"Coward? How could you even come up with such a conclusion? You're not, Taeil," she shook her head.

"You're even having the proof hanging around your neck right now," he hissed.

Still frowning, she looked down and touched the necklace she got from Taeyong. "You mean... this? What to do with Taeyong? This is a gift from him." She didn't expect things could get more complicated.

He snorted. "Why are you so sure that it's him?"

"He engraved his initials at the back of the pendant," she confidently answered. "See, it's TL." She flipped the pendant to show him.

"Shouldn't it be LT instead? You're his best friend too. How often he goes by TL instead of LT?"

His chains of questions got her thinking. As someone who dealt with his paperworks in a daily basis, she never remembered Taeyong purposely putting his surname at the back unless required.

"What's the shape of the pendant?" he continued asking without sparing time for her to answer.

"Moon? Crescent moon?"

"What's my nickname?" he mercilessly interrogated.

Her heart skipped a beat once she slowly realizing what was actually happening. She knew exactly the word Taeyong always called him by. "Tael," her voice going unstable as she proceeded.

He paused for a moment. "When did you receive it?"

"Three years ago," she sighed in defeat.

"When did I leave for Japan?"

Her eyes turned glassy. "Three years ago right after our meetings," she stated firmly. If he asked the exact date, she knew herself she could even nail it. "Taeil, I-"

"That's how coward I've been," he nodded, trailing off. "I boldly assumed that by living away would make me eventually forget about you, but I was wrong. I gathered all of my courage to come here and approach you, just to find out that you've been badly destroyed by that jerk. Taeyong kept it all away from me until that night when he asked me for help," trying his best to hold his tears back.

"It's just... difficult for me to accept the fact that I might have saved you since the beginning, only if I wasn't such a coward," he sighed. "Well, nonetheless I guess it wouldn't happen anyway. Who am I compared to him," he snickered. "Even after all those things you still love him deep inside, and I remain a coward."

She pressed her lips together as tears slowly fell onto her cheeks. "You're not," she whispered. "And never again compare yourself to that... demon. No matter how I might be struggling to get over him, I won't ever go back to that hell, never," she shook her head. "You saved me, Taeil. Just not in way you expected it to be, and it's totally okay."

She looked down on her necklace, stroking the pendant with her thumb as she held it. "I just want to let you know that this is the sweetest thing someone has ever done to me. Thanks for being so thoughtful. It's not something cowardice at all. I really mean it." The tip of her lips was shaky as it tried to curve up into a smile.

Taeil stared at her fondly in silence, somehow expecting more to listen to. He stepped forward to wipe her tears as she began to giggle. "You know what, Taeil? You're actually not alone."

He frowned in confusion as he cupped her cheek. "What do you mean?"

"I'm a coward as well," she mockingly laughed at herself. "I decided to date Doyoung because I wanted to get you off of my mind. But it didn't work, I still can't forget you until the day we met again."

Taeil couldn't believe what he just heard.

She surely nodded, a loving smile grew across her face in return. "Yeah, I already fell for you first, silly boy," she confessed. "I still do."

"Am I getting a confession too now?" he shyly laughed, both hands wrapping her cheeks as his thumbs caressing them.

She giggled along, "No, I'm just delivering a confirmation report, Boss."

"Well received, Miss. Please let me seal it first." He looked into her eyes for one last time before he locked his lips with hers. They couldn't help to smile in between as they tasted the real happiness they had been searching for. "Shall we turn our vacation in disguise into a honeymoon in disguise?"


End file.
